The 5 Most Beautiful and Inspirational Apps

We asked you (via Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) and all our staff, “What’s the most beautiful app available?”, and thanks to you, we’re here to share 5 lovely, inspiring apps with the rest of the world.

The winner of two Webby Awards this year (Best Use of Device Camera and Entertainment [Handheld Devices]) this four-star app has its interface modeled after a Super 8 case and comes with a vintage-looking instruction manual. The app itself gives you a variety of lenses (sepia, infrared, negative) and allows users to put a “scratch-and-dirt” overlay on top of “footage.” Might even be better than the J.J. Abrams film!

With its slick print-style layouts, nifty page swiping action, and incredible images, Flipboard comes in at a strong second. Proving once again that showcasing imagery and providing an outstanding user experience really makes for an amazing app.

The first player in the photo-sharing phenomenon (wait, is it a craze?) the simple interface of Instagram and its array of image-enhancing filters, allow this beautiful app to make the world more beautiful. And equally important, this app makes all those snaps you take with your smartphone, on the fly, look like you spent hours in a darkroom achieving photographic perfection. Well, they look better anyway.

Thanks again to everyone who voted. Did we miss anything? Please let us know, and we’ll include in the comments.